Montenegro’s Police Directorate says seven people were killed on the country’s roads between 7 August, when stricter traffic rules took effect, and 5 October. In the same period of 2025, 13 people died in crashes.
Officers recorded 1,274 traffic accidents in that window, with 152 people seriously injured and 435 slightly injured. In the matching period of 2025 there were 1,413 accidents, 184 serious injuries and 529 slight injuries. The directorate told the newspaper Vijesti that accidents fell by 9.8 percent, serious injuries by 17.4 percent and deaths by 46.2 percent.
Police describe fewer crashes, injuries and deaths as the main aim of prevention and enforcement under the amended Law on Road Traffic Safety. They link the work to safer roads, a higher standard of driving culture, consistent application of the rules, and protection of people using the roads.
Since the changes began, officers sanctioned 42,405 traffic offences and detained 1,348 people over more serious breaches. The offences they list most often are speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or psychoactive substances, failing to wear a seat belt, and improper use of a mobile phone while driving.
A further 172 drivers under 21 were sanctioned under new limits for that age group. Of them, 75 were penalised for driving a category B vehicle between midnight and 05:00, and 97 for driving a category B vehicle whose engine exceeds 80 kilowatts without the required supervision. The amendments bar drivers under 21 from category B vehicles in those night hours and restrict them from engines above 80 kW unless that supervision is in place.
Police also recorded 105 offences involving light electric vehicles. In 32 cases they sanctioned parents or guardians who allowed a person under 16 to use one. The new rules prohibit anyone under 16 from operating a light electric vehicle.
The directorate says it will not disclose where the new radars are placed. The devices record speeding automatically and do not require the car to be stopped. Officials argue that uncertainty about the check encourages drivers to keep to the limit on every road. They told Vijesti they are under no duty to announce the exact place, time or method of a radar check, or of other traffic controls, and that the rules set no general duty to flag each check with a sign, another warning or a public notice of the location.
They say drivers must observe the prescribed speed limits on every section, including places where no check is under way at that moment. In their account, radar control supervises limits that are already set, and a driver does not have to see the device for the check to be lawful. They will withhold specific operational sites because publication would, in their view, weaken the preventive effect. They say drivers who learn a site in advance, through other motorists, apps or other means, often adjust speed only there, then exceed the limit again, and in some cases cause crashes with the most serious consequences. The stated aim of the system is compliance on every stretch of road.
Devices may be placed where their use does not obstruct or endanger traffic. Sites are chosen from a safety-risk assessment, especially on sections with more crashes and speeding offences. The place of a particular check can be fixed from the GPS coordinates held by the device. The replies did not say who decides individual locations or whether a separate official record is kept for each one.
Vijesti asked whether a legal opinion or analysis was obtained before the radars entered service, on whether automatic recording of an offence requires the control point to be marked beforehand. Police answered that they have no duty to notify road users of radar locations and pointed to court practice. They cited municipal-court judgments of the Republic of Croatia, Pp-1859/2023-4, Pp-2559/2023-4 and Pp-2550/2023-4, which they say confirm that advance notice of the place and time of a speed check is not required. They also cited Court of Justice of the European Union cases C-188/24 and C-190/24, which they say concern the possibility of limiting the spread of information about police controls through certain applications. On that basis, they said there is no legal ground to require the Police Directorate to publish the exact radar location as a condition of a lawful check.
For cars with foreign registration plates, police say they will stop the driver after a recorded speeding offence when that is possible, using another patrol posted at a suitable distance from the radar. The driver is then told of the recorded offence and the case proceeds under the law. If the vehicle is not stopped straight away, data on the vehicle and the offence remain in the information systems of the competent authorities and can be followed up later.
If a foreign national leaves Montenegro before a penalty is served, the recorded offence can be checked if the same vehicle appears again at a border crossing. Officers may then inform the driver and take measures under the law. If the driver does not accept responsibility or does not pay the fine, further action goes before the competent authorities, including the misdemeanour court. The directorate did not specify which countries exchange data for identifying owners and drivers of foreign-registered cars, or how misdemeanour orders are served and fines collected abroad.